Cullowhee, N.C. -
Western Carolina head men's golf coach Carter Cheves today unveiled his squad's 2012-13 schedule which includes 10 seasonal events split evenly between the fall and spring semester, headlined by a trip to California and hosting the Hummingbird Intercollegiate. All told, the Catamounts will again play in six tournaments that were a part of last year's schedule.

The season culminates with the annual Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship, to be contended April 20-23 at the Ralston Creek Course on Daniel Island, S.C.

"We are excited about this year's tournament schedule," said Cheves. "We have a great opportunity in the fall to play against some of the best teams in the country. The Saint Mary's tournament in California will allow us a chance to compete against some teams we don't normally see and play in a different region of the United States."

Western Carolina opens the 2012-13 season in a unique format, joining the women's squad in the Golfweek Program Challenge Sept. 9-11. The men's team will compete for a tournament championship in the 54-hole event on the True Blue course in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with the final combined score added to the women's combined score for an overall event champion.

At the end of September, the Catamounts fly to California in tournament play. WCU will compete in the Saint Mary's Invitational on the 36-hole, Bayonet and Black Horse Golf Club in Seaside, Calif., along Monterey Bay.

The cross-country trip marks just the fourth to the West Coast in program history, and the first of such length since both the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons when the squad ventured to Scottsdale, Ariz., in the Wyoming Cowboy Classic held at the Talking Stick Golf Course. WCU posted finishes of 10th and third in respective years at the event.

WCU's first California trip came in the 2007-08 season as the Catamounts ventured to Rancho Sante Fe, Calif., finishing sixth in a tournament hosted by the University of San Diego.

Through mid-October, the Catamounts will again take part in the Donald Ross Intercollegiate (Oct. 15-16), hosted by Appalachian State at the Mimosa Hills Country Club in Morganton, N.C., and the Wolfpack Intercollegiate (Oct. 19-20), an event North Carolina State puts on at the Lonnie Poole Golf Club in Raleigh. WCU posted its best finish of last fall at the Donald Ross, finishing tied for fourth overall, while placing 13th in it's second-ever trip to the Wolfpack Intercollegiate.

For a sixth-straight season - and the seventh time overall - WCU and the Country Club of Sapphire Valley will host the 2012 Hummingbird Intercollegiate to close the fall portion of the 2012-13 schedule. The two-round, 36-hole event - the only two-round tournament on the slate - is scheduled for Nov. 3-4 with a practice round on Nov. 2.

"As always, we are very grateful to be hosting the Hummingbird Intercollegiate at the Country Club of Sapphire Valley. CCSV is a fantastic venue with top-notch staff and a wonderful membership that hang around to watch and help us put this tournament on. It is a perfect way to end our fall season," Cheves said.

Four of the five spring semester events will be held in the Palmetto State of South Carolina. WCU opens its spring in mid-February (18-19) at the Wexford Intercollegiate, hosted by Francis Marion at the Wexford Plantation in Hilton Head, S.C. The slate continues with a trip to the Samford Intercollegiate in Hoover, Ala., a tournament in which the Catamounts placed fifth last year - its best finish in the spring of 2012.

Western Carolina opens a string of three-straight tournament in South Carolina to close its 2012-13 regular season, including the conference championship. The Catamounts are scheduled to compete in the 44th-annual Furman Intercollegiate in Greenville, S.C., on March 22-24 before making its first appearance in the Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational since 2007 when the team finished tied for fifth. It is the third time that WCU has competed three-round event with this year's installment being held at the Spartanburg Country Club in Spartanburg, S.C.

In late April (21-23), WCU will look to improve upon its 10th-place finish at last year's SoCon Championship.

Cheves added, "The 2012 Southern Conference Championship at the Daniel Island Club proved to be a great success last season, and everyone is excited to be back there again this coming April."

Cheves and the Catamounts return seven of the eight golfers from a season ago including scoring average leader, rising sophomore J.T. Poston who was named to the SoCon All-Freshman team a year ago. Combined, WCU returns three golfers that saw action in all 10 events in 2011-12 with seven of those playing in 11-or-more rounds.

In addition to welcoming newcomer Tyler Lail, the Catamounts will also return the services of redshirt senior Kyle Wilson who returns to WCU after just over a year away, and Collin Witiak who took a medical redshirt due to an injury aggravated in the final round of the season-opening tournament a year ago. Wilson ranks eighth in school history with a stroke average of 75.32 through 50 career rounds, while Witiak ranked third on the team in scoring as a freshman in 2010-11 (77.32).